Mini Savory Breakfast Casserole

Man, I haven't posted in a while. I haven't really been cooking lately; I've been terribly busy. My kitchen has taken a back seat to other things that need to get done. That's alright, because I've gotten to eat out a fair amount and let's be honest, I do love great restaurants.

I'm still busy, but with Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I've been very conscious to attempt to clean out my fridge and pantry to make room for leftovers.

So what do I do with half a loaf of stale bread?

Crispy on the outside...gooey on the inside...it's kind of like me on vacation in Hawai'i.

BREAKFAST obviously.

This was kind of an experiment, but dangit, did it turn out delicious. If I weren't trying to lose weight I probably would have had two of these suckers. But one bowl full of cheese and sausage and egg is probably pushing it as it is. Clearly I'm not trying too hard.

Have you tried this? It's actually very easy to improvise, which is exactly what I did. Here's how it went down:

1.) Before the bread was too stale to cut, I made little cubes about 1 inch in size, and set them out overnight to let them crisp up. I'm sure it would work just as well if they sat out for only a few hours, or even not at all.

2.) I chopped up some onion (about 1/4 of a medium one), and sliced up a leftover spicy chicken sausage from Trader Joe's that I still had in the freezer.

3.) Then, I threw them in a pan to sauté them with some olive oil. Sprinkled on some Salt & Pepper, Herbs de Province, Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage.

Hold me.

4.) Meanwhile, I beat 4 eggs with a little bit of water (it looks like some recipes call for cream or milk, I'll try that next time but I didn't have any). Added some S&P, and a handful of shredded mozzarella. A different cheese would have been better, but it's all I had.

5.) I added the bread cubes to the pan once the sausage and onions were cooked to my liking. Stirred everything up, then began to spoon the mixture into my little Le Creusets. I filled three of them with the half loaf of bread. (Note to self --- next time, give the cooking vessels a bit of oil so the bread doesn't stick.)

6.) Then, I poured the egg mixture over the top, trying to douse every cube in liquid. Let it sit overnight in the fridge. The next morning, I noticed some of the bread probably was a little dryer than I would have liked....so next time, I'll probably add an extra egg, and either a lot more water or milk. I ended up adding a little water before I put it in the oven.

7.) With the oven at 350º, this little sucker cooked perfectly in about 45 minutes. The top bread browned pretty quick, so I put the lid on for half the cooking time.

8.) Let cool a bit, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and there you have it. Comfort food breakfast!!!

I would probably have to run for several hours to burn this off. But I will not be doing that. 

I'm happy to add this to my arsenal. It came out perfect --- browned and crispy on the outside, spongy and moist on the inside. And it had great savory flavor.

Plus, it's one of those dishes where you can sort of use whatever filling you like...bacon, green peppers, spinach, mushrooms, whatever.

I'm currently worshipping Bird-from-last-night because thanks to her, I have TWO more of these suckers in the fridge. Lucky future-Bird!!!

3 Fancy Tea Sandwiches

All of a sudden I had the weirdest desire to make tea sandwiches. I can't say I have ever experienced that before. I think that means I'm getting old.

Or maybe it just means I'm getting fancier! Yeah, that's it.

I gotta be honest. I did not make tea. I was having coffee while I devoured these little sandwiches. Let's face it. I'm not English.

Let's talk about the sandwiches!

First up - Cucumber w/ Herbed Butter Tea Sandwich!

Little cucumber sandwiches are too cute. I can't even handle it. I don't know what it is about them, but after stumbling across some images this morning I had to make one.

Traditionally, it's butter that you spread on the sandwich. I stayed traditional, but with a little twist. I

added some lemon juice, fresh dill, and fresh parsley to the butter. This really gave it some fresh flavor. I also used sourdough bread, which made every bite deliciously tangy!

It's topped with a few dots of sriracha, for a little kick!

Next time, I'll marinate the cucumbers in vinegar or just lemon to give them some more flavor. I also want to use plain ol' white bread, and try out a thin layer of cream cheese instead of butter. And definitely try cutting them into cute shapes!


Next - Healthy Mediterranean Pinwheels!

LOVE the hint of purple from the mixed greens. Will have to add yellow bell pepper or red tomatoes next time
for an extra punch of color!

I had some chicken breast in my fridge. Some hummus. Yogurt. And fresh dill. It seemed obvious what I must do!

First, I whipped together a fast version of tzatziki sauce. No straining or processing involved! I took some Greek yogurt, mixed in lemon juice, lots of fresh dill, pepper, and minced garlic. Traditional tzatziki involves cucumber, but since I was going to put cucumber in the wrap itself I omitted it.

Where to even start?!?!

I love getting the hummus quad from Trader Joe's. 4 different types of hummus, so you never get bored while snacking! I laid down a thin layer of the spicy hummus mixed with the garlic hummus on the spinach tortilla, followed by the tzatziki.

 Then, thinly sliced cucumber, small pieces of chicken, mixed greens, a few more drops of lemon juice, and one last crank of pepper went on before I rolled everything up tightly.

I let it sit in plastic wrap in the fridge for a little bit to let it firm up and the flavors meld. Firming it up made it easier to cut into tiny pinwheels, perfect for a party!



Finally - Creamy Peanut Butter Sandwiches!

It's all the goodness of a classic peanut butter sandwich . . . and then some.

Brown sugar and cinnamon are added to softened cream cheese and spread on one side of the sandwich. On the other side, peanut butter. So easy. So good. I suppose you could just mix the cream cheese and peanut butter together, as well! Another delicious addition would be some chocolate shavings.

Now all we I need to do is throw a tea party! . . . Or, just eat everything myself. Hmm. Yeah. That's the better option! ;-)

Rustic Late Summer Galette

I TOLD you in my first post regarding my Groundbreaking Galette Experience (which we will now refer to as the GGE) that I would be experimenting with Galettes again.

I was wrong about making the same one several times before I branched out, however . . . I just couldn't resist the idea of a beautiful, savory, rustic tomato pie.

The sun was setting when this came out of the oven, so I walked with the pan over to the window to utilize
the light for photographs. I'm literally balancing this thing between the door and my chest while I try to snap photos.
DEDICATION.

Also, let's be real. I had tomatoes that were going bad. Like, it was getting dire.

And would you believe that the crust turned out well again?! I hope I'm not using up all the good karma I have in the bank on galette crusts. I need it for other things, too (or do I...???).

Sorry for the ghastly photos. My camera phone ain't none good.

All I did for this one was double the recipe for the crust (something like, 6 large spoonfuls of flour with 1 stick frozen butter?), and follow the same protocol when I make a "proper" tomato pie.

Although I'll probably never attempt the "proper" pie again, because the free-form crust is just so easy. And the uglier it is, the more "rustic". So, that's good, right?

Here's what went in the galette:

A little parcel of love! . . . and cheese.

~Sliced Roma tomatoes
~Sliced zucchini
~Fresh basil, rosemary, & parsley (don't be shy here...the more the better)
~Diced white onion (already sautéed)
~Dollops of Greek yogurt
~Shredded mozzarella
~Shredded parmesan
~S&P




I just kept layering, and layering, and layering . . . these things actually turned out to be pretty sizable. I used a pizza cutter to cut them into quads.

I love the satisfaction of haphazardly throwing something together that turns out to be delicious. Even more so, however, is the satisfaction of your boyfriend going back for seconds! 

Gallo Pinto (Costa Rican Breakfast)

I've been to Costa Rica two times, both as a biology student in high school. To attempt to describe the magic of the place would be blasphemy; I'm no writer.

But let me just say that some of my fondest memories take place in the Costa Rican rainforest.

Every morning, some Ticos (native Costa Ricans) would prepare us breakfast. It would vary slightly from day to day, but there was always a huge bowl Gallo Pinto on the table.

Gallo Pinto is such a simple dish! At it's most basic, it's black beans and rice. The reason this breakfast dish came to mind was that I was out of all the usual breakfast items. I had no eggs, no bread, no milk. I won't wait until next time I am running low on pantry items to make this again. And next time, you better believe I'm putting a fried egg on top.

Directions:

1.) Cook 1 cup of white rice to directions.

You should know I dropped the food from my fork at
least several times before I was able to snap
this photo.

2.) Meanwhile, heat oil in pan. Once oil is hot and rice has about 5-7 minutes left on the stove, add diced onion, green pepper, and minced garlic (be sure to use a large clove!).
3.) Once onions are cooked, add 1 can of black beans, liquid and all. Add a splash of Worscestershire sauce (traditionally the recipe calls for Salsa Lizano, but I had none).
4.) Cook gently for a further 10 minutes while rice rests.
5.) Chop up a GENEROUS helping of fresh cilantro, and mix everything together!



 How can something so basic be so tasty?! I guess it's because it reminds me of the rainforest. That was 10 years ago now, and I'm itching to go back. Until then, preparing a traditional breakfast will have to do!

INSPIRATION - Bento Boxes

I don't do a lot of inspiration posts . . . but I really should, because it means I don't actually have to cook anything or (attempt to) take pretty pictures.

Today's obsession: BENTO BOXES!!!

I've always been fascinated with Japanese culture. It's almost like some weird parallel universe, where at first glance it's kind of like America...but definitely not. At all.

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of American kids got their veggies arranged in a half-assed smiley face. But I certainly didn't (which is fine --- cheddar cheese tastes just the same either way). The closest I came to something like that was when my dad would make Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes on the weekend. That was exciting. But imagine opening your lunchbox to find THIS:

OR THIS:

Or even something a little more adult, yet still pleasing to look at:

Bottom line is, aside from the fact that it's art, and that I totally want to eat a Pikachu (did that come out wrong? I think maybe it did) . . . I love the idea of small portions of a lot of things. I'm a sucker for variety in my meals. I'm not one of those "eat all of your potatoes then move on to the meat" type of eaters. And this is a perfect way to get tons of variety in a healthy, smaller portioned way.

Now I only need a job so I can pack myself bento boxes for work lunch! ^_^*

Guiltless Egg Salad Sandwich

For a while now, I've been meaning to do a post about healthy foods and condiments you can add to dishes that pack a HUGE flavor punch. This is not that post. But this recipe has, like, 4 of the items that would be on that list!

Uh...pay no attention to my dirty glass table and ripped chair. Focus on the food!!! #howembarrassing 

This Egg Salad has baked chicken in it, also, to help with that much needed lean protein punch midday. Let's talk about the chicken briefly.

I baked two breasts side by side, drenched in honey mustard. The result was a deliciously moist, flavorful chicken.

Okay. That's all I wanted to say about the chicken. Moving on.

Egg salad is dynamiiiite. But can be considered not-so-healthful because it's swimming in mayo. Well, I've found a way to avoid the mayo and replace it with things that are actually good for you!

The secret? AVOCADO OF COURSE. AND YOGURT OF COURSE.

The two life-saving healthy-yet-delicious replacement foods.

Nothing more satisfying than a fresh, healthy lunch sitting at your table. Except, of course, when it's sitting
in your stomach.

To make a very small batch, I took 1/2 of an avocado, and mashed it up roughly with a spoonful of 0% fat Greek yogurt.

Then, coarsely chopped up a hard-boiled egg and tossed it in. A few pieces of chicken breast as well. This would be good in itself, but it needs help from another one of my favorite healthy miracle flavor-saver ingredients: (WHITE WINE) VINEGAR OF COURSE. I added quite a few glugs, but be sure to taste test before adding too much. I'm a sucker for vinegar-y things, so an intense vinegar flavor doesn't bother me.

My fingers look all pink and weird o_O
Once again...focus on the food!!! -_-*

Still needs a bit more to keep the rich flavors fresh --- and yes, it's another one for the list --- FRESH HERBS OF COURSE!!! I added a hefty amount of fresh parsley and fresh dill, but basil or cilantro would be good too, I imagine.

Add some S&P, mustard powder, turmeric (I like that it adds a yellow color, and it's actually very good for you),  a bit of garlic powder (a little goes a long way!)....BOOM. Healthy Egg Salad for a nice sandwich.


I also recommend adding Curry Powder, (a dash of) Cayenne Pepper, and Smoked Paprika. They add tons of flavor without adding any calories. Next time I'm going to experiment with some bolder flavor profiles!

Of course, you could eat the egg salad on it's own as a side. Or just connect an IV and pump it into your blood stream directly. You get lots of protein, healthy fats, and even an anti-inflammatory agent (the turmeric) in just one little sandwich, so no need to feel bad about having seconds.

I didn't!

Welcome to my belly!

Free-For-All Homemade Marinara

I think now's a good time to talk about Marinara.

Why? No particular reason. It's delicious when it's homemade, and it's easy. It also pretty much transcends every season (whether or not that's true, let's just pretend), so you can make it whenever you feel like it. Those are the reasons.

I know pasta gets a bad rap for being unhealthy, but homemade marinara makes up for it.
So eat as much as you want! This message brought to you by me.

Oh yeah. And one more reason. There's a bit of a recipe backup over here. As you may know, this blog is purely a casual mix between hobby and organization --- I enjoy cooking, and I like to take pictures of what I eat so I remember to make it (or not make it) again.

You can probably tell by the shoddy photography that at this point in the blog, I'd rather cook stuff up and snap a quick photo before I devour it (sometimes I forget), instead of taking lovely still photography photos of every ingredient and each step. One day I want to do that, but right now I feel a bit guilty spending too much time on it because, well, I probably should be spending time looking for a job instead. *wince*

So, now that I said that, on to the fun stuff!

Dis one's got ground turkey meat, yo. But dat's optional. Why am I talkin' like dis?

These photos are actually of a dish my boyfriend made! I'm so proud of him. He's seen me make fresh marinara before, and wanted to surprise me and give it a shot himself. Not that he's a bad cook, but he's just a lot simpler in his meal sentiments (a piece of fruit for breakfast, cold cereal for a snack, a few carrots for dinner...).

It really is easy to make homemade marinara. Here's what I always add to make a small serving:

1 8oz can diced tomatoes
Diced Onion (probably about 1/4 of a large one)
1 Large Clove Garlic
Splash Red Wine
Small bit of Honey (about the size of half a peanut shell)
Bay Leaf
Handful Fresh Basil
A Few Shakes Dry Basil
A Few Shakes Dried Oregano
A Small Shake Red Pepper Flakes
Generous S&P


A handful of spinach, diced mushrooms, or ground meat are optional!

I have also been known to add some sort of stock to thin it out if it gets too thick, or a Tablespoon of tomato paste if it's somehow still too runny. But typically all the water evaporates and the sauce condenses into a beautifully chunky sauce. If you don't like chunky, throw everything in the blender (save for the bay leaf).


There's really only three steps to this dish.

1.) Add onions with some oil and sautee until slightly translucent.
2.) Add garlic, and cook for about a minute.
3.) Add everything else!

And there you have it. Don't forget to sprinkle with fresh parsley or more basil if you desire. And, of course, definitely try to make homemade pasta! There's proof it can be done, see?

Best Ever Rustic Autumn Galette

You know when they say, "dress for the job you want"?

Well, amidst this Los Angeles draught / heat wave in mid-September I've been getting a little antsy for fall. Can you blame me? It's the best season. Autumn is the only other season outside of Summer that you could argue Los Angeles gets. But it's taking foreverrrr to get here.

So, I decided to "cook for the season I want".

Ladies and Gentleman....The Rustic Autumn Galette.

I improvised everything, including the crust, which makes me proud (pie crust and I are NOT friends). And it turned out absolutely divine. This might be my favorite thing I have ever put together, it's that good.

All I did was sautee some fall-ish veggies (Leeks, Carrots, Asparagus, Mushrooms) in some coconut oil with a giant clove of garlic and some autumn herbs (dried Thyme, dried Sage, and fresh Rosemary). Add some S&P, a little black magic (seriously though, most people would have to sell their soul to the devil for this to turn out so good), and let 'er cook til everything is softish (remember it will cook more in the oven). Oh yeah! I also added a glug of sherry. I wouldn't skip this step, I think it actually is pretty critical. If you don't have sherry, a splash of red or white wine will do, I imagine.

I cooked the asparagus and carrot first (they take longer), then added the rest, garlic last so it didn't burn.

As for the crust, it's amazing it turned out so well, considering I didn't measure anything (what else is new?). Maybe about a cup of flour (I could be making that up, I have no idea), 1/2 stick butter, sliced into smaller pieces and frozen, 8 cranks of freshly ground sea salt, and a dash of water (probably 1 T).

I had intentions to chill the crust like I know you are supposed to do, but I got impatient and it only sat in the fridge for like 5 minutes.

It rolled out beautifully (I am still in awe of this). I placed a thin slice of Provolone in the center of the dough, then added my veggie mixture. On top of that, I added a small bit of cottage cheese, and a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Then, I folded it up, STILL flabbergasted that the dough was holding together.

Then --- and this is important for that beautiful brown crust --- I swiped the top of the crust with a beaten egg yolk mixed with a small amount of water.

25ish minutes later at approx. 375, I had a beautiful, rustic, perfectly delicious and satisfying autumn meal.

I can't wait to experiment with more flavors...but let's be real. I'll probably make this exact version several more times before that happens. YUM.

Teff Breakfast Porridge w/ Apples

Good news: I'M OFF THE RAW DIET! My brother came into town and it was just impossible to maintain. And the thought of going back on it actually made me feel sick.

So I excitedly opened my container of flour to make my first non-raw meal in a long time, and found something unacceptable in there. I was going to make homemade tomato pie, but when I opened my flour container there were little round black dots...and when I looked closer...I realized they were bugs. Writhing, terrifing little bugs. NOT OKAY.

I threw it out, and last night took care to organize and seal every dry good into air tight containers. The last thing I want is an infestation. Soooooo, while I was going through things, I realized I still had Teff seeds from my attempt at injera, the Ethiopian spongy flat bread.

What is it about eating things in mugs that feels so . . . adult??

This morning I discovered that you can make a pretty delicious breakfast porridge from Teff! I cooked it up plain in water, added some leftover raw sliced apples that I seasoned with apple pie spice and maple syrup last night for mini pies, a little extra cinnamon and syrup, and homemade almond milk.

The result: HOLYCRAPITSGOOD.

It's got that nutty, bran-like flavor that's perfect for fall. The spiced apples and light sweetness were so warming and homey. The homemade almond milk? Heavenly creamy.

Make this for yourself (and then eat it). Trust me.

Teff is also very good for you, and apparently delicious. I think I'll keep this ancient grain in my pantry arsenal full time!

Raw Taco Salad

Man I just keep getting laaaazier and laaaaaazier with photographs lately. I guess it's because it's difficult to get excited about raw foods.

I've been perusing a lot of raw food blogs, and the photography is just stellar. Everything about the diet sounds so healthful, and conscious, and like a perfectly decent way to live and prepare fresh, whole foods.

But it's not for everyone! Simple as that, I guess. Whereas I am excited that my new journey into these types of foods allow me to be able to introduce raw meals into my diet, I am MORE excited knowing that at some point soon I will get to eat a FRIED EGG!!!

That said, I was pleasantly surprised with this taco salad. The other week I made tacos that featured this very raw corn salsa, and it was a hit. So I decided to whip that up agian. It consists of:

~raw corn!
~diced tomatoes!
~juice of a couple limes!
~lots of fresh cilantro!
~cucumber!
~avocado!
~S&P!

I bet garlic would be good too. But I knew I'd be adding it to the "meat" so I held off.

The "meat" consists of walnuts and cauliflower. That's it! Oh, and maybe a little bit of olive oil and some Mexican spices (cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder).

The "sour cream" consists of cashews, lemon juice, water, and apple cider vinegar.

It's hard to replace meat and cheese. But I didn't feel guilty downing two bowls of this...so that's a plus ;-)

Raw Zucchini Lasagna

This was, actually, delicious. Doesn't beat the cooked version with actual cheese, of course. But a chubby girl's gotta do what a chubby girl's gotta do to become slighly less chubby. -_-*

I think the reason I enjoyed this is because there is a lot of hidden fats in there. Haha. I am SO BAD at this diet.

Started off by making rather thick slices of zucchini from boyfriend's garden (they just keep COMING! It's like the zucchini-pocalypse, I swear --- oh yes, and I'm totally copyrighting that term.), slices of a yellow-orangish heirloom tomato, some sliced crimini mushrooms, and a handful of fresh spinach. I kept layering them, adding a new sauce to each layer.

Awful. Photos. Sorry. @_@

SAUCE 1: PESTO
Thrown in the food processor:
-Handful of raw almonds
-Handful of fresh parsley
-Handful of fresh basil
-Several large glugs of cold-pressed olive oil
-S&P
-1 large clove garlic
-Glug of lemon juice

SAUCE 2: MARINARA
Thrown in the food processor:
-1 large red Heirloom tomato, roughly sliced
-1 clove garlic
-S&P
-A few slices of orange bell pepper from the garden
-Some fresh leaves of basil
-Some fresh leaves of parsley
-About a teaspoon of raw honey
-Several large shakes of dried basil & oregano

I guess cutting the zucchini thinner may
help with the cutting problem?

SAUCE 3: CHEESE
Thrown in the food processor:
-Handful of raw cashews
-A few tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast (not raw I guess; oh well)
-Scant amounts of coconut oil
-S&P
-(Next time, totally going to add some almond milk or coconut milk)

And there you have it!

It was good, but actually pretty hard to eat. It doesn't "cut" like a normal piece of lasagna, so you just sort of end up eating it like a messy salad. I tried to cut into it several times, and the whole damn thing slipped off the plate at least twice!

Oh --- and the first few bites I took were room temperature/cold, but when I heated it slightly in the microwave the flavors really came out more.

Raw Salmon Wraps

This was MUCH more of a success than lunch. At least I'm not on a vegan raw diet. I still get to eat fish!!!

I got a giant slab of Salmon from Whole Foods the other day, and wanted to do more with it than just cutting it up and pouring soy sauce all over it (which would be delicious also).

SIDE NOTE: Soy sauce is not raw. Coconut Aminos, however, is. It's basically sap from the coconut tree. And it tastes surprisingly like soy sauce. Nature is WEIRD.

Nothing like good ol' laptop daylight to make things look more appetizing.

SO, I decided to put my kitchen tools to the test, and sliced up some strips of carrot & zucchini, laid a thin strip of salmon over the top, added red amaranth sprouts and green onion, then wrapped them up in a cozy thinly-sliced cucumber blanket.

I'll be back to 15 pounds
lighter in no time!...Maybe.

I gotta be honest. I had trouble mandolin-ing the cucumber. I don't know why...maybe the cucumber was too big? It really was huge. 

That was the reason I decided not to cut them like small pieces of maki sushi...I figured they would fall apart. So they became little wraps!

I prepared a yummy sauce for them --- coconut milk, grated ginger, coconut aminos, and sriracha. THAT was good. I might try the same thing on some kelp noodles and mushrooms or something next time I feel like "cooking" up an Asian meal.

All in all --- this is a raw meal I could get down for.

It looks pretty now, but dang did I make a mess eating it.

Of course, I had to raid the pantry for raw watermelon seeds and raw chocolate snack bites to satiate my still-remaining hunger, but hey, small steps.

The Worst Diet EVER - AKA, Raw Indian Spice Soup & Heirloom Tomatoes

Well, the title might be an exaggeration. But seriously. The raw diet is the OPPOSITE of everything I look forward to when it comes to food. It's so foreign to me. But of course, since I am a glutton for punishment, I am now on this diet. Well, okay. Less about being a glutton for punishment and more about being a regular glutton (needing to lose weight).

NOW I know what it feels like to have no idea what you're doing in the kitchen. It's scary.

But, on a brighter note, I do appreciate fresh ingredients and fresh flavors. And, THANK GOD, I can still have avocados. I also bought some raw sprouted watermelon seeds, which turned out to be quite delicious (who would have thought?)!

Anyway, here we have a raw soup experiment for lunch! I didn't really like the texture and I don't think I like raw carrots as a soup base. I kept trying to make it more savory but I just couldn't do it, so I accepted that it's going to basically just taste like carrots. Because, well, that's what it's made out of.

...Not appetizing, I know. I think I'll put cashew cream in it next time to mellow it out.

It's basically 4 large carrots, a few medallions of sliced leek, curry powder, garam masala, salt and pepper, cumin, garlic clove, and some coconut milk.

Oh yeah! And I sprinkled Red Amaranth sprouts on it (that's what's awkwardly floating in the bowl). No idea what they are. But they're a pretty color and have a unique fresh taste, that's almost beet-like.

Inadvertent color coordination with the purple basil and red
amaranth. AND the tomatoes match the carrot soup!
I guess I really am an artist.

As far as the tomatoes went, It's a pretty basic situation.

Sliced up an orange heirloom, added olive oil, balsamic vinegar (not raw, oh well), fresh garden basil, S&P and more Red Amaranth.



I NEVER eat raw tomatoes. I never eat raw anything. This is going to be a very challenging diet for me.



The good news is, the tomatoes weren't all that bad! I actually enjoyed them.



...Could use some mozzerella though.

INSPIRATION - Colorful Juicer / Boyfriend BBQ!

LOVE the metal finish and colorful "worn"
wooden handles!

I love Anthropologie. I typically want everything when I walk into the store. It just smells so good in there! And everything is so tactile, and serene, and shabby chic.

Sitting at one of the front tables was the juicer, sitting there looking all rustic and colorful.

I've never been one for kitchen tools that have one job. I just don't have room for them in my tiny studio loft. And I can never justify spending money on something I can do by hand.

But lately I've been more and more frustrated with my juicing skills. I have bad arthritis, making it difficult and even painful to harvest all the juice. Not to mention I HATE finding surprise lemon seeds in my food (they are grossly crunchy and bitter).

Last time I made hummus, I carefully and annoyed-ly removed all the damn lemon seeds I accidentally let slip into the food processor.

Missed one, apparently. Stephen complained of something "crunchy and bitter" in the hummus. UGH.

I can't see the point of a separate zester and peeler (as you can see in the photo)...but that juicer might be the next sexy and practical addition to my kitchen.

---------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, I whipped up some healthy coleslaw to
get down and dirty with the meat.

In other news! Stephen made GREAT BBQ flavored pulled meat. I think I'll call it BOYFRIEND BBQ!

I say pulled meat because...well...it's kind of a mixture. He puts a whole chicken in the crockpot with some vinegar, something pork-related for flavor (this time he used pork hocks), and I pointed him in the direction of some cheap fatty beef cuts that I had in the freezer.

I'm not sure what he all adds in addition to the vinegar. Probably some paprika, S&P....not sure! I'll need to find out. Because it always turns out amazing! I add some BBQ sauce and hot sauce to mine, but it stands on its own.

Next time, I'm going to put an egg on it and eat it for breakfast. Cause, you know. That's just kind of what I do.

Italian Homemaker Pasta - Success #1

I DID IT!!!

No, I didn't run a marathon. No, I didn't get permanent employment. No, I didn't get married. No, I didn't bring a baby bundle of joy into the universe.

Stop making me feel bad already, jeez!!! I get enough of that perusing my Facebook. Ahem. Anyway. Wanna know what I did?!?!

....

I successfully made homemade pasta from scratch!

Yep. I'm officially awesome and ready to retire from life now. But there's still so much homemade pasta to make and eat throughout the course of my lifetime, so I'll stick it out a little longer.

Reminds me of those drawing exercises I had to do in art class, where one puts an egg under a light and sketches it. But this is better because eventually you get pasta at the end.

     Any of you ever tried to make pie crust? Ugh. It's the worst. I've tried several recipes several times over the course of the last couple years and I still have yet to get it right. It gets too moist, or too dry, and it's impossible to roll out, and then you bake it for too long, or not long enough, and no matter how hard you try, it always ends up dry and crumbly instead of light and flaky, and then you break out from the stress and lie awake at night with tears running down your pimply face wondering if life will ever get better. SCREW YOU PIE DOUGH!!!!

I made these?!?!

    But pasta dough isn't anything like that. Pasta dough is super chill. It's all like, "Hey. You wanna roll me out nice and thin and have an easy time cutting me by hand? Sure. No prob. I'm easy."

     It was time consuming, but way easier than I thought it was going to be. I thought I would go to sleep that night as a pimply-er version of myself. Instead, I went to bed as Ruler of the Universe.

It's like a dormant volcano of num nums.

I used mostly egg yolks (5 of them I think, leftover from an egg white omelette), plus two full eggs.

Hello, beautiful.

Poured them into 1 3/4 cup flour, with a crater in the middle.

The idea is that you whisk the eggs within the well, slowly drawing in flour from the sides.



But, Murphy's Law --- I busted the sides. The levee broke. And egg ran EVERYWHERE. I thought I was doomed. But pasta-dough-to-be was all like, "Hey, you messed up. That's okay. I'm still gonna form a perfect ball of dough for you. Because I like ya, kid".

And he did.




    Once I had kneaded a doughy ball of perfection, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it hang out in the fridge for an hour to rest. Brought it closer to room temperature, then sliced it into 5 or 6 sections for rolling out.

I'll have to run through the whole shebang with you guys once I have a photographer. The process of rolling out and cutting is best shared visually.

Until then, I will share with you the moral(s) of the story:

1.) Making homemade pasta dough is actually possible, even completely by hand.
2.) Homemade pasta dough is really yummy.
3.) Can't put store-bought sauce on it. It's sinful. Make from scratch, like yours truly. It's actually surprisingly easy (Also will go through this in a subsequent post)

If I had an Italian grandmother, I bet she'd be super proud.

As a final thought: If not-very-active-on-Facebook-boyfriend posts this:

You better believe I'll be making homemade pasta again soon.

   

Apple Spice Baked Oatmeal

I know, I know...MORE breakfast?! I'm sorry.

But then again, I'm not. And you will cease to judge me. Because I have created something beautiful.

Looks like the dish has big ears. The better to hear you say "MmmMMM!"....Wow, that was lame.

Behold my creation . . . Apple Spice Baked Oatmeal!

Take note of the homemade almond milk.
A must for serving!

   This was a real crap shoot. I know people bake oatmeal. It can be done. But I have never tried it, and decided on my first go I wasn't going to follow a recipe.
 
    I usually don't follow recipes, maybe because I like the sense of adventure. It could go horribly wrong...or incredibly right. If it's the latter, it makes me feel like I'm a natural.
 

 I did, however, decide to follow the liquid to oatmeal ratio that is called for on the box.
Let's be real. I didn't wanna get toooo crazy with experimentation. If I mess up the flavor, that's an acceptable loss. If I mess up the basic cooking of oatmeal...that is embarrassing.

Basic principals of photography went out the window for this post, folks. I am consistently disappointing you. I gott step it up.

Let me run through the process with you (Remember, I improvised...and also used a baking pan that isn't a typical size. It's probably about half the size of your typical 9x13. So if you do try to make this, keep that in mind.):

1.) Preheat oven to 350º.

2.) Grease your pan with an oil or fat of your choice. I used coconut oil.

Apples! So you can feel like you're eating healthy.

3.) Peel, core, and dice up an apple. I used Granny Smith. I might use another apple next time, and cut the chunks a bit smaller. But I liked the large cubes as well. It provides some needed texture to what will end up being a gooey dish.

3.) Mix 3/4 cup dry steel cut oatmeal with a generous amount of cinnamon (1 T?...probably more.), a sprinkle of ground cloves (1 t?), a sprinkle of nutmeg (1 t?), and however much brown sugar you want to sweeten it up a bit (I didn't use very much because there's sugar in the liquid mixture, as you will see).

4.) In a separate bowl, mix your liquids. My steel cut oatmeal calls for 3/4 cup water for each 1/4 cup of oatmeal. So, since I tripled the amount of oatmeal, I used 3/4 cup of homemade almond milk, 3/4 cup water, and poured about an ounce of maple syrup into my last measuring cup (probably a little less than 1/4 cup). Then, I added a generous spoonful of raw honey, a bit of vanilla extract (1 t?), and filled to the 3/4 cup mark with water.

5.) Pour the dry mixture into the wet, and mix well.

6.) Pour that mixture into the baking dish, and throw it in the oven. Well, don't actually throw it. Place it gently. Duh.

7.) I think when all was said and done, I cooked this lovely creation for about 45-50 minutes. Once it starts bubbling and you can see that the oatmeal has soaked up all the liquid, it's done.

8.) Be sure to let it rest a little bit before serving! And DEFINITELY serve with homemade almond milk. It adds this amazing creamy and nutty flavor. If you don't have fresh almond milk on hand (which most people don't), regular ol' milk or cream will certainly do!

It almost looks like the terrain of some alien planet. A very, very delicious terrain.

This made way too much for one person. Le sigh. But I bet once I get my baby Le Creuset casserole dishes in, I can whip up the perfect individual servings!